Pharrell Performs 'Happy' With a 'Black Lives Matter' Nod

On Sunday’s 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Pharrell Williams won a number of honors, made an awkward speech, and performed “Happy” as we’ve never seen it: with every performance concept known to man. But all was forgiven when he included a “Black Lives Matter” nod.

Hitting the stage in a hotel bell boy costume, complete with a hat, Pharrell began by talking to a voice from above. Then, after a brief remix, steppers in black hoodies and jeans with tambourines appeared, a choir filed down the aisles of the audience and there was an explosion of movement and colors and… confusion. What was clear, however, is that Williams publicly supported the continuing “Black Lives Matter” political movement against police brutality by standing with his hands up in unison with the black-clad dancers, channeling the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” mantra of so many in Ferguson, Missouri, and beyond.